tulips make everything better

If you ask me how I feel about Kansas in January, I will have many a negative thing to report. January makes me grouchy. February is made better only by the fact that Valentine's Day brings presents and fresh flowers. Also, that's usually when we go on vacation. March is the month of waiting. Waiting for crocuses and thunderstorms, the things that herald spring in the midwest. By the end of the month my daffodils and tulips are up and the sun is shining and my spirit soars, and all is once again, well in the state of Kansas.  The world smells like dirt and cherry blossoms and grass clippings. There are gardens to be planted, bushes and trees to be trimmed. The roses are already waking up and you know how I feel about those. On Sunday afternoons we all stroll around the neighborhood, admiring flower gardens and dogs and new babies. And in the evenings when we head to bed I open all the windows and fall asleep to sounds of crickets and night birds, all of us just waiting for the glorious sun to rise again tomorrow.

auld lange syne

Perhaps you are not aware of my feelings on lilacs. I don't talk about them near as often as I opine about my roses, but they are the first flower with which I fell in love. The remind me of dear, old friends who used to bring great big bunches of them to birthday sushi dates. They are the fragrance of spring for me. The first thing I planted when we bought our first house was a lilac but we sold the house before I saw it bloom. It was also the first thing I added to the landscape of this yard. It takes between 3 and 5 years to really get a lilac bush going and they flower sparsely or not at all those first few years. Last year I got one little cluster of blooms and I was thrilled.. This year my lilac is blooming the like the grown-up she almost is and my heart is happy.

(No, I did not steal this photo from some botanical website, I took it my very own self.)

what's happening in my garage

Today I am painting something the same color as sunflowers. Can't wait to show you because I get cheerful just thinking about it. Happy sigh.

(Painting is Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by VanGogh)

less equals more

I never learn. This I went out with my clippers to do a little spring pruning. Eleven big black garbage bags and three huge bundles later I finished for the day. Needless to say we had to go out to dinner. As always after a good pruning session, my arms look like I am an adolescent cutter. The new neighbor asked whether i enjoy the yard work or whether I consider it a necessary chore. I told him I didn't mind it but that I really did it because I liked what came later, the growing things. In retrospect I think I love the pruning part, the getting rid of the unnecessary, excess part. It's like purging only for the yard and I am all about purging lately. Less stuff=better stuff as demonstrated by my flowerbeds.

i'll write about my current experiment tomorrow

I was going to write about something else today but now I'm too excited and I can't. Guess what I found in my front yard today? Guess!

Tulips! And Irises! I know that tomorrow is going to be frigid but soon, soon, soon things will be growing and flowering and green. I feel all peaceful just imagining. And my roses are coming soon. And my garden. And Spring.

excuse, excuses

I think I might be reading too many design blogs. My house is oh, 80% or so decorated and it's making me a little depressed. I have lots and lots of little projects to do but most of the big ones (that I can currently afford) are finished. I'm sort of itching to do a crazy paint project or recover something. It's probably just because it's almost spring right? Hmmm. I just feel like It's a little early to completely redo a house that I have not yet lived in for three years. But I could mess around with art and I am still looking for the perfect giant, chair/loveseat/something for the piano room. And an occasional table, I need another one of those for the entry way. Maybe I'll redo Tommy's bedroom for his birthday? Or let them share like they are always begging to do? This is why I can't all the drawers clean at the same time and why I am never caught on the laundry.

There must be somewhere I could put fab wallpaper like this? Found at Oh Happy Day, one of my favorites. The woman is a rock star.

(if you are interested, you can see my other fave links in the sidebar)

fine, i surrender

Yesterday I bought a new pair of earrings in my very favorite shade of blue. I bought them from my new friend Summer who is a jewelry maker. Her stuff is big and bright and I love it. (watch for a link to her new Etsy store next week) I couldn't wait to wear them. Last night I ironed my brown poplin dress and laid out my double bow ballets in the exact same blue (oh, joy!). Today was to be a very important day. Johnny would spend the morning with the sitter and I would attend preschool with Tommy. We woke to a torrential downpour that just wouldn't quit. I was undaunted. I put on my light, cotton dress and suede shoes (under my yellow slicker, of course) and off we went. By the time we finished preschool, our special lunchdate and a quick trip to procur new soccer shoes for one who has suddenly outgrown them mid-season I was damp and freezing. Instead of projecting carefree and whimsical mom-on-the-go, as was my aim, I think I probably just looked like a stupid person who neglects to look out the window prior to dressing in the morning. When we finally got home I slipped into jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a big, thick sweater. I completed my outfit with non-matching sweater socks because I think that, for today at least, function must lead form. Otherwise I could end up with hypothermia.

manifesto

Dear winter,

You struck a harsh blow today. The loss of all my hydrangeas, daffodils and many of my newly flowering tulips was nothing but devastating. Don't, however, think that this is over. It's not. You may have won the battle, but you will not win the war. Even as I write this, the shelf in my garage is bursting with dahlias, hibiscus, roses and even strawberries. They go into the ground this week. Come June they will be glorious and there will be nothing you can do about it. I will not go quietly into the ice. Just so you know.

Respectfully, Me

hope

Guess what?! There are buds on the trees in my front yard. Hooray, that stupid groundhog is wrong, wrong, wrong!